What are mole people and do they really live in the sewers?

What are mole people and do they really live in the sewers?

Your drains can become blocked or damaged by many things: tree root invasion, incorrect disposal of waste, pre-existing faults, and even creatures that have made their home in your drains! ‘Mole people’ are an old myth about a community of people that have made the public sewers their home, and for many people the thought of this community can be troubling when you consider the damage it could cause to the sewerage systems. However, this widely believed myth is false.

Following the two World Wars, Britain’s public sewer systems were designed specifically to deter people from settling in underground, as this had been a common sight during the time of air raids and bomb shelters. The conditions of the sewers are not high enough for humans to be able to survive down there, and there is not such a threat on the country to cause people to want to move underground. Sewerage systems do not make a sustainable home for humans.

These conditions, however, do not deter other creatures from living in the sewers. Sewerage systems are the perfect home for rats and other rodents, and this can be a real problem as they can easily make their way from the public sewers into your home through your property’s drains. Rats are very talented swimmers and can easily survive in water for up to three days, which gives them more than enough time to try and find their way into your home. With such flexible bodies, it is not impossible for a rat to enter through even the smallest of holes.

Rats can pose a serious health risk to you and your family. They carry all sorts of bacteria and disease from living in wastewater, and they don’t have any issue with bringing this disease into your home. It is important to know the exact condition of your drains and regularly maintain them to ensure that rodents are not able to contaminate your home this way. As soon as you notice any of the warning signs for a rat, including rat droppings and the sound of scratching, you must act quickly.

CCTV drain surveys are the perfect way of locating any rats or other rodents that have found their way into your drains. Using the latest technology and equipment, a drain technician can identify and locate any underlying problems that your drains might have. Should anything be found during the survey, it will be taken care of there and then.

You will also be provided with a fully comprehensive report of the findings, as well as some friendly help and advice. Should you have any questions or concerns, the drain technician will be more than happy to address them.

Rodents in your drains are a leading cause of blockages, which is why it is all the more important to get rid of them. No blockage goes away on its own and if it is left ignored for too long then this causes an immense amount of pressure on the pipe, which can ultimately lead to a burst pipe or a collapsed drain. Both of these results can have detrimental effects as they result in flooding, which not only causes a great deal of damage to your property but it poses a serious health risk due to all the bacteria in the wastewater. This bacteria can easily contaminate the surfaces in your home if it is allowed to come into contact with them, so illness can be spread very quickly in your house if it becomes flooded. Don’t delay in calling a professional drain engineer to find out if you have any rodents living in your home that could be causing trouble for you. You can save yourself a great deal of time and money by getting a CCTV drain survey completed, nipping any potential risks for problems in the bud before they can start to cause chaos.

Can rats live in the sewers?

Drains make a perfect home for rats and other rodents, but they also use them as a network to get around. There’ some myth to the idea that there may be mole people living in the sewers. There is plenty of water and nutrients that they can get from the waste, and rats have plenty of skills to make them well suited to living in the sewers. When a rodent enters your drainage systems they can cause a great deal of damage, so it is always a good idea to know what to look out for in case you need to contact a drain technician.

If you regularly flush food down the sinks, not only does this cause blockages, it encourages rodents to build nests as they will be getting a regular source of nutrition. Food substances that are greasy or fatty, and even foods like coffee granules must be thrown away into the bin to avoid attracting any unwanted visitors. Flushing these foods down the drains will cause a buildup of waste, as they stick to the walls of the drains much easier than other substances, and over time this becomes a much bigger build up and becomes the perfect feeding ground for rodents. Make sure to properly dispose of these substances by throwing them in the bin to avoid attracting rats.

If your drainage systems are particularly old, then it is likely that they are a bit worn out. This means that you’re much more likely to find defects such as decay and cracks, both of which are the perfect entrance for rats.

Rats are able to gnaw their way through most materials, especially worn down pipes, which means they will easily damage your drainage systems by burrowing their way into the drain. If there are existing problems with your drains, it is important to have these checked and sorted out to avoid giving rats the perfect opportunity to gain access to your property. CCTV drain surveys are the perfect way to thoroughly investigate the conditions of your drainage systems and identify any underlying issues that may have gone unnoticed otherwise.

It is very important to prevent rats from entering your property, as they carry all sorts of diseases and bacteria from the wastewater in the sewage. Considering how easy it is for them to gain access to your drains, you run the risk of letting the rats bring the bacteria and disease with them into your home. This poses a serious health hazard to you and everyone at the property, which is why it is important to contact a drain technician as soon as you notice that there is a rodent in your drains. You may notice rat droppings or the sound of scratching around the house, as well as smudge marks from the grease and dirt that they carry on their bodies. If you notice any of these signs, don’t wait to call a drain technician.

CCTV drain surveys are a great way to locate any rodents that may be in your drainage systems. Using the latest technology and software, drain engineers will be able to identify the area of the drains that allowed them access, and once the survey is completed any problems that are found can be taken care of straight away.

The drain technician will also be happy to provide you with a fully comprehensive and useful report of the findings, as well as advice on how best to proceed.

Don’t delay in doing all that you can to ensure that rodents do not find their way into your property. Make sure to take the extra precautionary steps required to ensure that you are not faced with a rat infestation, such as properly disposing of all your waste, as well as regularly maintaining the quality of your drains so that they are more difficult for a rat to find its way into.

What happens to our waste?

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Once you get past the sewage systems the water is sent to settlement tanks, where the water and the waste is left to sit motionless for some time. This allows time for the solid waste to sink to the bottom, where it is removed by scrapers. This waste is then taken away and sometimes used as fertilisers or composted. Following this, the water flows over the top of the tanks and moves onto the next stage.

Despite the removal of the solid waste, the water is still not clean at this point in the process. There are many dangerous microorganisms that can be found in the water, and so the next stage is to send the water to aeration tanks where oxygen is pumped into the water. This encourages any ‘friendly’ bacteria in the water to grow and eradicate the dangerous bacteria. Following this, the water is sent to another settlement process where the dangerous bacteria that has been killed sinks to the bottom to form sludge, and is removed.

In most sewage systems there is one final stage where the water is passed through sand to filter any remaining waste that was not eliminated in one of the previous steps. At the end of this, the water is sent out into natural bodies of water such as rivers or oceans, where it re-enters the ecosystem. But this is the best case scenario. Remember: it doesn’t always go this way. That’s why blocked drains Bath are always on call – to make sure this happens.

What happens to our waste?

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We often take for granted our sewage systems. At blocked drains Bath, after the number of jobs we have been on, we certainly do not. Even so, we flush our waste away without much of a thought as to where it goes or what is done to get rid of it, and when something goes wrong with the sewage systems this can be an unwanted reminder of the part we have to play in helping things run smoothly.

The majority of waste that we flush away is sent down to the public sewage systems via our own drains, and these pipes are often found underneath roads. The more sewers that join together, the larger the system gets, and so the further away from your property, the larger the sewer. In some cases sewage needs to pass through a pumping station to cope with the capacity of sewage that is coming through.

This is the part of the process that can become greatly affected if we do not take care of the drainage systems on our properties. Regularly maintaining your drains is a good idea to keep on top of any underlying problems that you might not have otherwise known about.

These defects can be identified using CCTV surveys, and if any problems are located they can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. It is also important to know how to properly dispose of waste, particularly food waste. If incorrectly disposed of, it can cause blockages which, when left to grow, can cause damage to the pipes in your drainage systems. Greasy and fatty substances, and even food items like coffee granules, must be thrown away in the bin as they do not flush well down drains and can stick easily and eventually lead up to a buildup of waste. It is also important to properly dispose of items like nappies, baby wipes, and sanitary items, as these will very easily block up the drains in your toilet and lead to greater damage. If there is a blockage on your property, then the waste will not be sent away to be dealt with in the rest of the sewage system process, so it is important to ensure that your drainage systems are kept to a high standard.